Police Beat items are compiled from public information contained in Los Alamos Police Department records.
Charges or citations listed in the Police Beat do not imply guilt or non-guilt. The Los Alamos Police Department uses the term “arrest” to define anyone who has been physically arrested, served a court summons or issued a citation.

October 11
4:52 p.m. – Police received a report of a dog biting another dog in Los Alamos.

SANTA FE – A Los Alamos man faces new allegations of burglary and battery, and as a result was called in front of a district court judge Thursday to face a charge that he violated probation for previous incidents of residential burglary
An attorney for John Craven 35, said he was arrested on a football field in early October, surrounded by young players.
“He has an alibi,” said his public defense attorney, Jennifer Burrill.
Craven had pleaded no contest to a pair of third-degree felony counts in 2015, following allegations that he had repeatedly burglarized a neighbor’s house. At sentencing in 2015, he received three years supervised probation and treatment for drug addiction.
On Thursday, Craven’s attorney said he would deny the most recent allegation.
“He was coaching football at the time of the incident; the field was filed with young kids,” Burrill said.
Assistant District Attorney Kent Wahlquist said the latest allegation is that he was seen breaking into lockers at a spa. According to the allegation, he ran as he was chased by spa employees.
“He ran, they chased him, and he ran again,” Wahlquist said.
District Judge Mary L. Marlowe Sommer said Craven would remain in jail for the time being.

Los Alamos resident and county sheriff candidate Greg White is urging the New Mexico Supreme Court to address a legal standoff between the Los Alamos County Sheriff’s Office and the County Council that has gone on for 16 months.
Currently, council wants the First Judicial Court of Santa Fe to decide if Los Alamos County’s charter permits them abolish the office.
The Los Alamos County Sheriff’s Office believes the county needs to follow state statutes. Current county sheriff Marco Lucero and his attorney, A. Blair Dunn, believe state statutes protects the office from local officials seeking to abolish it.
So does White.
“Enacted five years after home rule, reflecting the more specific and more current will of the people in regards to all counties, current and future, home rule or incorporated, as no distinction is made, states twice in one paragraph that counties must follow statutes and the constitution,” White said in his petition to the court.
In one statute he cited for the court, he said it mentions twice that counties must follow state statutes and the constitution in matters concerning the Los Alamos County Sheriff’s Office.

Los Alamos Police Commander Preston Ballew and an investigator look through the wreckage of a head-on collision on Ridgeway Drive around 1 p.m. Thursday. Two people, both in the red Suburu, were taken to the Los Alamos Medical Center. No citations had been issued. A single person was in the Ford Explorer.

a 2013 Nissan Sentra crashed into the overpass on Diamond Drive at about 4 p.m. Thursday. According to officials on the scene, the Sentra experienced mechanical failure prior to the crash. The driver of the vehicle, a woman, and her infant were both transported to the hospital.

Investigators are looking for any witnesses to the driving behavior of Elias Arellano, 18, who was driving a Chrysler Sebring convertible on Friday afternoon prior to a fatal wreck on U.S. 84/285.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office investigators said they would like to hear from anyone who might have witnessed his driving behavior. Investigators said he lost control of the vehicle around 3 p.m. on Friday and caused the death of a 72-year-old Espanola woman, Lucy Fresques.
Arellano and a juvenile who was a passenger in his vehicle were ejected from the convertible and weren’t wearing seat belts, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office investigators.
Fresques was driving a southbound Acura sports utility vehicle that was struck head-on by the convertible driven Arellano, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
Also injured was Fresques’ husband, Robert, 74.
Arellano’s vehicle had been northbound when it crossed into the southbound traffic, near Buffalo Thunder Resort.
That section of highway lacks barriers between northbound and southbound lanes.
He was taken by ambulance to the University of New Mexico Hospital.
The investigators said they believe Arellano lost control of his vehicle.

Officials from the Valles Caldera National Preserve and Santa Fe National Forest are planning a pair of prescribed burns in the local area.
Burns in the area could start as early as Monday, according to caldera and National Forest officials.
At the VCNP, a burn will take place within about an 2,300-acre project area in the Banco Bonito district, near mile marker 30 off N.M. 4.
The caldera burn will could take between 3-10 days to complete, depending on conditions.
Meanwhile, starting early next week, the SFNF has plans for burns about 15 miles north of Los Alamos in a 2,500-acre treatment area, which is expected to take two or three days to complete. Additionally, another burn will take place in the Cuba Ranger District area, although that will be located in a smaller treatment area.
All the planned burns will get rid of dead forest fuels and pre-cut limbs and other debris.
For the burn at the VCNP, officials warn of possible traffic delays on N.M. 4, as well as for visibility issues for drivers.
Both the caldera and the Santa Fe National Forest officials warn of potential health hazards to those with allergies, chemical sensitivities or cardiorespiratory issues.
Smoke will likely be visible from the Los Alamos town site from both the burns at the caldera and in the Espanola Ranger District.

Officials from the Valles Caldera National Preserve and Santa Fe National Forest are planning a pair of prescribed burns in the local area.
Burns in the area could start as early as Monday, according to caldera and National Forest officials.
At the VCNP, a burn will take place within about an 2,300-acre project area in the Banco Bonito district, near mile marker 30 off N.M. 4.
The caldera burn will could take between 3-10 days to complete, depending on conditions.
Meanwhile, starting early next week, the SFNF has plans for burns about 15 miles north of Los Alamos in a 2,500-acre treatment area, which is expected to take two or three days to complete. Additionally, another burn will take place in the Cuba Ranger District area, although that will be located in a smaller treatment area.
All the planned burns will get rid of dead forest fuels and pre-cut limbs and other debris.
For the burn at the VCNP, officials warn of possible traffic delays on N.M. 4, as well as for visibility issues for drivers.
Both the caldera and the Santa Fe National Forest officials warn of potential health hazards to those with allergies, chemical sensitivities or cardiorespiratory issues.
Smoke will likely be visible from the Los Alamos town site from both the burns at the caldera and in the Espanola Ranger District.